In March, the Legislature’s Education Committee voted unanimously to create a group to develop models for school choice—part of a larger effort to create an education environment with more pathways to engagement and success for students. The advent of charter schools that cater to students’ specific needs or special interests, such as art or technology, is in keeping with that move. We want all parents to make the best choices for their children’s educations, and, more importantly, we want to provide all Maine families with the opportunity to make such decisions. Watch for a renewed push later this year and in the next Legislative session to make more choices available to students and families.

The Charter School Commission will meet next Tuesday to finalize a decision on the Baxter School of Technology and Science in Portland. Maine can establish up to 10 public charter schools over the next decade, by current law. We’re off to a great start with the Academy of Natural Sciences, and I hope we continue to approve schools that focus on different learning strengths while sharing a common goal: offering innovative, flexible education curricula to students throughout Maine.

NEWS & VIEWS

The five semi-finalists for 2013 Maine Teacher of the Year represent a wide spectrum of subject areas and grades. It has been a profound experience to witness skillful, passionate teaching firsthand. By Alana Margeson | More

AUGUSTA – The Maine Charter School Commission voted to approve the application from the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences to move to the contract phase that will result in becoming the first public charter school in Maine’s history. | More

AUGUSTA – The State Board of Education elected Steven M. Pound, PhD., to be the new chair and Nancy S. Perkins to be the new vice chair at its June meeting. Both were elected to one-year terms in the leadership roles beginning July 1. | More

UPDATED: Registration for the Positive Youth Development Institute, to be held July 23-24, remains open. The early price of $110 has been extended through the conference, and full attendance provides educators with 1.5 Continuing Education Units. | More

LEAVE A REPLY. We encourage reader comments to foster a substantive dialogue about education in Maine. Essentially, be brief, be respectful, stay on topic, and include your first and last names. Read the rest of the Maine DOE Newsroom’s comments policy (linked below). Cancel reply

Enter your comment here...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Email (required)(Address never made public)

Name (required)

Website

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )